I pre-wash everything. When I pull my fabric out of the washer, I take it straight to the iron and "press" it. If it's a little too wet, I'll let it dry a bit. If I'm using it soon, I'll starch it at the same time. If I'm just storing it, I'll fold it neatly, and put it away, but when I got to use it, I spray it with distilled water (water is very hard here, don't want stains) until it is quite wet, put it in a plastic bag, leave it for several hours in a cool spot (fridge or outdoors, depending on the weather), and it comes out uniformly just moist enough. That's when I starch, giving it time to soak in, and press.
I have insul-bright installed on a wide long plywood board, and I made a tight flannel cover to go over that. The cover can be removed and washed. This is what I use to press on. The flannel really "holds" the fabric and makes it much less likely to move and "stretch" or otherwise distort the fabric during the pressing process. I just set it on top of a table that is the right height for me (I'm short) and it works wonderfully. I'm still careful to "press" and not iron until the fabric is dry. Makes a real difference.